If you think Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are exhausted following their epic French Open final, just think what all of us tennis fans had to go through for five hours and 29 minutes?!?! And while Alcaraz and Sinner get to rest for at least a week or two on the heels of their instant classic (won by the Spaniard in five sets from triple-championship point down in the fourth), there is no time off for fans. It’s on to the grass-court swing, which gets underway on Monday in Stuttgart and ‘s-Hertogenbosch. There is no time to waste with Wimbledon beginning later this month!
BOSS Open
Where: Stuttgart, Germany
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 751,630 Euros
Points: 250
Top seed: Alexander Zverev
2024 champion: Jack Draper (not playing)
Draw analysis: Zverev understandably withdrew from Stuttgart last year after finishing runner-up to Alcaraz at Roland Garros (also in a five-setter). This time around, the top-seeded German is presumably rested and ready to go following his French Open quarterfinal loss to Novak Djokovic. Zverev should coast into the quarterfinals, at which point he could face Brandon Nakashima and then Ben Shelton.
The bottom half of the draw is not as top heavy since it doesn’t have talents like Zverev and Shelton, but it is much deeper. Joining top-four seeds Taylor Fritz and Felix Auger-Aliassime are Denis Shapovalov, Alex Michelsen, Gael Monfils, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, and Lorenzo Sonego. Michelsen vs. Monfils is a blockbuster first-round showdown, with the winner likely to eventually face Mpetshi Perricard in the semis. Fritz is looking to rebound from a lackluster clay-court season, but he will have tough opener on his hands against either Sonego or Quentin Halys.
Hot: Jake Fearnley, Damir Dzumhur
Cold: Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime, Yoshihito Nishioka, Jan-Lennard Struff
Quarterfinal predictions: Alexander Zverev over Jake Fearnley, Ben Shelton over Jiri Lehecka, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard over Gael Monfils, and Lorenzo Sonego over Denis Shapovalov
Semifinals: Zverev over Shelton and Mpetshi Perricard over Sonego
Final: Mpetshi Perricard over Zverev
Libema Open
Where: ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands
Surface: Grass
Prize money: 706,850 Euros
Points: 250
Top seed: Daniil Medvedev
2024 champion: Alex de Minaur (not playing)
Draw analysis: With Tallon Griekspoor sidelined due to injury (he retired from his French Open fourth-round match against Zverev), it is up to Botic van de Zandschulp and Jesper de Jong to carry the Dutch hopes in ‘s-Hertgenbosch. Good luck with that! Van de Zandschulp is in disastrous form and would have to face Karen Khachanov if he gets past Mattia Bellucci in round one. De Jong is playing well but would probably go up against top seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals if he wins his first two rounds.
Medvedev is by far the best player on paper in this tournament, but he is struggling these days–which means the ‘s-Hertogenbosch title could be entirely up for grabs. Among the other contenders are Khachanov, Ugo Humbert, Alexei Popyrin, and Hubert Hurkacz. As the No. 5 seed, Hurkacz doesn’t even own a first-round bye. An extremely dangerous grass-court player, the Pole could make life difficult on Medvedev and Popyrin in a difficult top half of the bracket.
Hot: Luciano Darderi, Jesper de Jong, Otto Virtanen, Gabriel Diallo
Cold: Daniil Medvedev, Ugo Humbert, Hubert Hurkacz, Jordan Thompson, Botic van de Zandschulp, Nicolas Jarry, Aleksandar Vukic
Quarterfinal predictions: Daniil Medvedev over Jesper de Jong, Alexei Popyrin over Hubert Hurkacz, Mattia Bellucci over Gabriel Diallo, and Otto Virtanen over Rinky Hijikata
Semifinals: Popyrin over Medvedev and Virtanen over Bellucci
Final: Popyrin over Virtanen
who ya got?
You could make a case against all those players doing well there.
Zverev in Stuttgart, and in the other, a lot of upsets . I’ll pick Thompson
Thompson is hurt
Already won a round.
yep. he’ll be dangerous now.
Stuttgart
QF: Tien over Zverev, Shelton over Lehecka, Auger-Aliassime over Monfils, Shapovalov over Fritz
SF: Shelton over Tien, Shapovalov over Auger-Aliassime
F: Shelton over Shapovalov
Den Bosch
QF: Medvedev over Q/LL, Hurkacz over Popyrin, Khachanov over Thompson, Humbert over Etcheverry
SF: Hurkacz over Medvedev, Khachanov over Humbert
F: Hurkacz over Humbert
Perricard in good enough form to win? I’ll believe it when I see it
Tennis heads picks look reasonable but I think Humbert is injured. Also Shelton on this slippery grass? Question mark too over Zverev who never plays well here .
Huge servers but don’t like low bounces IMO
yep Humbert is hurt. Otherwise I’d have picked him.
Correction Den Bosch final, Hurkacz over Khachanov.
Sonego could go a few rounds. Or Halys whoever wins .
I would have picked Hurkacz to win but he might not beat RBA .
Hurkacz is a big fav. to beat RBA.
Normally that would be the case but if RBA has a good day, Hurkacz off day (first match on grass) could happen
Routine for Hurkacz.
We were so off on these picks.
RBA must have been tough enough for Hurkacz in his injured state. He hasnt played since
Or maybe Hurkacz’s back didn’t act up until after the match.
He hasnt been 100 percent for a long time .
12 months exactly (Wimby last summer)